Pulsever Records
and a special selection
of 12 Vinyl Cover Artworks
My diploma work highlights 12 Vinyl Cover Artworks by choosing one from several music genres based on a timeline. The goal of this project was to reflect on the broadness of music genres and styles. In my work, I sought to explore how I could establish a connection between typefaces and musical genres. The work also contains the brand identity design of Pulsever Records, a music label where the vinyls are sold. Other elements such as merchandise and a website design are included within the project as well.
Is it just me? Is it also everyone else? Why do we need these cover artworks?
I love to listen to music, especially nowadays when it is available everywhere, even on the streets. We only need a phone and earphones. ‘World off, music on’ I would say. I always loved music but never knew how to put it to the highlight, it became a background noise during my everyday life. That is why, I remembered how fulfilling it was when I was introduced to the vinyl.
As for the generation of my parents, it started with the vinyl, then everything moved online to the internet and then to the streaming platforms. But for us, in my generation we knew it how to download a song earlier than to know how to put the vinyl on the player.
The easier availability on the streaming platforms removes the essence and care that was put into each song and album by the musicians. Thence, I started to be interested in the vinyl. Not just me, I could say everyone else. It is becoming a trend again.
To nurture something that we can see, we can touch, we can read, we can hear and we can collect as our own special piece of artwork. I believe the artworks made by close attention to the meaning of the music makes these physical vinyl covers unique.
My diploma project aims to highlight these cover artworks as much as the vinyl itself highlights the music. I would like to showcase how strong of a relation can be between a well-produced music album and a decently designed cover artwork.
The development of Pulsever Records
I started with writing down words related to music and to the concept: having a timeless label where any kind of genres could be found. This is how I came up with the name: Pulsever (pulse + ever); ‘pulse’ means a strong connection between our heartbeat and the beat of the music, ‘ever’ delivers the meaning of timeless, infinity, past, present, and future.
The creation of the logo, came with many ideas, I tried to use symbols that could be associated with the words related to music. However, the greatest hardship was to find a style that could match with all the twelve different genres. Therefore, I have chosen the most simplest version of the logo, because the main artworks are the album cover designs for each genre, and not the logo. The choice of the final symbol happened because the focus of the label is to sell the vinyl.
The 12 vinyl cover artworks
It all started with choosing the music genres. At first, I thought it would be hard to collect at least twelve of them, but at the end it was harder to exclude those ones that were not relevant in my project. After I had the twelve different genres, I started to read articles about the most iconic, or the most revolutionary or simply put, the greatest albums within each genre. I selected the final 12 music albums and started to research the stories behind them.
I found it important that each design will reflect that specific album and it will resonate with the storyline. After reading many articles I wrote a short paragraph about each genre, each singer or band, and about each music album as well. This helped me to come up with each concept.
My design process might seem a bit different or even difficult to understand for some people, but I find it crucial to find the right mood for each design through colours, shapes, tactiles and the shape of the typography. I usually do not illustrate exact objects; I aim to capture the atmosphere of each design.
Another important step was to decide the size of the artwork. I obviously could not print the whole design on one page, so I had to divide it into smaller pieces. At first, it was four of them and in a smaller size, so the real vinyl could not fit into the cover. Then I decided to find a printshop, where I could print it in real size. Therefore, the separated elements I had to think of was the inside, the outside, and the element which helped to stick these two together.
Putting together the vinyl cover artworks
Find your favourite from the 12 different artworks
Pulsever Record's merchandise
I would like to say thank you...
I would like to say thank you to my parents and for the support they have been providing me not only through these few months, but through all the years since I started this journey.
I would like to say thank you to my sister who keeps up with my moodiness caused by long working hours. I also want to thank her the review she has been offering me even at 10 pm if I need another perspective to be able to continue the project.
I would like to say thank you to my supervisor, Kata, who cheered for me and for this project even when I thought I would not finish it, and also for the last minute consultation at the end.
I would like to say thank you to the printing shops where I could print out the album covers and the vinyl labels, and for the tools I could borrow to be able to finish the folding of the album cover artworks.
I would like to say thank you to all the people who cheered for me and believed in me during these past few months, either it was a call, a text or a short meeting, it was great having people to check on me.
To conclude, I appreciate that I am able to live for something I could only dream about some time ago.
title: Pulsever Records and a special selection of 12 Vinyl Cover Artworks
programme: Graphic Design BA
institution: Budapest Metropolitan University
academic year: 2025/2026
supervisor: Lagzi Kata
